L.A. wildlife district ordinance bill sparks debate amongst council members, homeowners 

A new wildlife district ordinance that would regulate residential development in parts of Los Angeles passed in committee on Tuesday, but some homeowners are wary of the ordinance’s limitations and fear that the bill could adversely affect their property values. 

The bill impacts hillside communities in between Griffith Park and the 405 Freeway, including Sherman Oaks, Hollywood Hills and Bel Air. 

Included in the ordinance are limits on how much of a homeowner’s property can be covered with a home and how much fencing, if any, could be put up around the property’s perimeter. 

Proponents of the bill say that it will help curb the expansion of mega-mansions, whose construction projects can have drastic effects on the surrounding wildlife and their habitat. 

“With those huge projects comes a lot of grading, a lot of impacts to the neighborhood and a lot of impacts to the wildlife,” said 5^th District Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky. “What this ordinance does is say ‘We need some reasonable limitations.’” 

Some residents, on the other hand, believe that the ordinance is too harsh on hardworking homeowners in the area, and that the large-scale developers will mostly be unaffected by the bill. 

“Those of us that have our life savings that we saved up and put into a home, maybe hoping we could take out equity to send our kids to college, that’s what being affected here,” said Alison Whitiker. “Not the developers that can build mansions and take advantage of buying huge lots…what’s at risk is our livelihoods, retirements and so forth.” 

According to Councilmember Yaroslavsky, the average size of a new residential construction in the area impacted by the ordinance has more than doubled in the last 15 years. 

The ordinance now heads to the City Attorney’s office to be drafted before being put up to the full council for a vote.